Shoulder Pain/Mobility

[Louie P]

Hi Guys- I was wondering if you had any suggestions on dealing with some shoulder pain. A little back story about 4 months ago I had constant pain in my right rear delt. I went to the doctor and they thought it was over use and pec tightness constantly pulling on the shoulder. I did a week of anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxers and a week off the gym, that helped quite a bit. I would get a flair up here and there but rolling it out with a lacrosse ball seemed to solve any pain I had.


Well fast forward to now and the pain is back. I ended up laying block all weekend and defiantly over did it. I woke up Sunday I was in a lot of pain in the same area as before. I've been hitting the NSAID pretty good the last couple days and was able to get some tissue work done last night which helped a lot. She said my scapula was locked up pretty good.

As far a stretches I've been doing the door way pec stretch as much as I can at work and use a massage cane to work out any trigger points. Then in the evenings I'll roll it out with a lacrosse ball. Any suggestions on some stretches or exercises that have helped you in the past?

[chris]

Here's a little exercise matrix that you can run through as prehab that will hit pretty much every articulation of the shoulder.  Use a very light resistance band and make sure you are effecting the movement through voluntary contraction; exaggerate the eccentrics and isometrics.

http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/photo-21.jpg

I don't like the doorway stretch for my pec because I feel like it torques on my shoulders too much.  I will do one of two variations.

#1 I lean up against a corner such that the corner is in pressing into the little crease where the pec crosses under the front delt.  Once the distal attachment of the pec is locked in place by the corner, I rotate my torso away while simultaneously retracting the shoulder blade on the side with the pinned pec.

#2. I lie on a flat bench with a dumbbell in the hand of the side to be stretched.  I perform the eccentric of a bent arm fly until I start to feel a stretch in the pec.  At this point, I roll my torso away from the stretched side while simultaneously retracting the shoulder blade on the stretched side.  I've found I can keep the dumbbell relatively close to my body (more elbow flexion) and obtain a pretty deep stretch in the pec without putting any strain on my shoulder.

I have also found a lat stretch that seems to help open up my shoulder flexion.

Find an object to hold on to (e.g. spotter pins on rack) that is around waist height or slightly lower.  Bend over to grab the object such that your arm is straight and torso is about parallel with the floor; your knees should be slightly bent.  Shift your weight back into the hips until you start to feel a stretch in the lat.  Once you've achieved a stretch, laterally shift your torso in the direction of the side that is being stretched and laterally shift your hips AWAY from the side that is being stretched.  This is essentially a pivot about the tangential line running through the shoulder on the side being stretched.  This should produce a very deep stretch along the entire length of the lat.

In general, I do my stretches for 5 sets of 15 seconds or 3 sets of 25 seconds.

Since the shoulder has a number of articulations you'll really need to run through the combinations to see where there is noticeable weakness between the healthy and unhealthy sides.  The articulations are:

1. flexion

2. extension

3. abduction

4. adduction

5. internal rotation

6. external rotation

Internal and external rotation can be executed in combination with 1-4.

I have found that NSAIDs seem to be most effective when taken before bedtime.  I have also found that ibuprofen seems to work better for me than naproxen sodium.

Contrast showers provide some short term relief.

If this doesn't clear up within a few weeks I would definitely go through the steps of seeing an ortho and starting PT.  Your insurance company will probably want to see 4-6 weeks of conservative treatment before agreeing to an MRI.

  

[Louie P]

Thanks Chris- I've been streching quite a bit and really like that lat strech, once I was able to get my lat to lossen up the majority of the shoulder discomfort went away. Another lat strech I found that worked good for anyone instereted was this one-

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJcHe_EebA

[chris]

On Tuesday, July 22, 2014 8:05:14 AM UTC-4, Louie P wrote:

Thanks Chris- I've been streching quite a bit and really like that lat strech, once I was able to get my lat to lossen up the majority of the shoulder discomfort went away. Another lat strech I found that worked good for anyone instereted was this one-

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJcHe_EebA

Glad I could help out.  A lot of people like to hate on tight pecs for shoulder discomfort, but the lats can also be a pretty big factor.